FC Bayern: Review of the Thumping of Hertha, Preview of Pokal Semifinal

Last week, when I previewed the Hertha match, I did not imagine that for the third time in a row, Bayern would score six or more goals in a third match in a row. The massive away victory came in Berlin, which will be Bayern's destination if they manage to put Gladbach to the sword on Wednesday. They achieved this win without Bastian Schweinsteiger, their lucky charm, on the bench!

Taking a look back at the Hertha game, not everything was great. The defence looked suspect at times. The attack, however, continued to flow at full speed with Bayern winning three penalties and scoring three brilliant goals.

Arjen Robben notched a hat trick, with two of his goals coming from the spot. He handed the ball to Mario Gomez to take the other penalty and Gomez scored. Thomas Mueller opened the scoring on the day while Toni Kroos notched himself a goal.

It is incredibly difficult to interpret this rise in form. The teams they beat are called "weak" oppositions by most—Hoffenheim, Basel and Hertha.

Hoffenheim is not on form at the moment, but Basel is tearing up opponents in their league. Basel beat United in the group stages and of course, beat Bayern in the first leg. Hertha is fighting relegation, but Bayern had not won a match away from home for a while, and 0-6 is an incredible score line.

On the other hand, the real test will perhaps arrive tomorrow night in the form of Monchengladbach, a team that has done the double over Bayern in the league.

However, the circumstances surrounding those two matches were very different to the environment in the Bayern camp this time. The first match took place in the Allianz Arena in the opening weekend when Bayern and their new recruits were under plenty of pressure to perform.

Manuel Neuer and Jerome Boateng combined to make one of the most laughable gaffes in the history of the league to allow Igor de Camargo to score one of the simplest goals he will ever score.

In the second game, the match served as the opener to the second half of the season. Bastian Schweinsteiger had just returned from injury, and the entire team was fatigued from a trip to India.

However, I can't take anything away from those victories for Gladbach. They were brilliant in those matches and completely bashed Bayern's defence in the second game. Had the second match ended 5-0, Bayern could not have complained.

This time, Gladbach takes on an in-form Bayern. They themselves recovered from two draws and a loss against three teams they should have beaten and beat Leverkusen this week.

They will be buoyed by the return to action for their influential youngster Patrick Herrmann, who has been a big miss for them. For Bayern, Schweinsteiger will continue his sports rehab program and will not travel for this one. Ivica Olic is back on the bench, though.

As for the team selection, expect an unchanged side to take to the pitch:

Neuer

Lahm-Boateng-Badstuber-Alaba

Kroos-Gustavo

Robben-Mueller-Ribery

Gomez

This one is too difficult to predict. Who do you think will win and progress to the final to play either Borussia Dortmund or SpVgg Greuther Furth? Let me hear your thoughts.